Propagating Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum)

Trachelospermum commonly known as star jasmine or confederate jasmine is a very attractive, evergreen, twining climber, with fragrant flowers. Propagation of star jasmine (trachelopermum) is very easy and this article will teach you exactly how you can do it, for yourself.

This guide will work for the common forms of trachelopermum (star jasmine): jasminoides, asiaticum and tricolour.

Quick guide to propagating star jasmine

• Most recommend taking the cuttings in summer, however we take ours in winter.
• Use semi-hardwood parts of the stem.
• Keep the cuttings small. 7cm (3in) is perfect.
• Use a mix of perlite and peat moss to “strike” (root) the cuttings.
• Keep cuttings in a sheltered area and keep the propagation mix moist.
• Pot rooted cuttings into a good quality potting mix.
• Read on for full instructions.

Taking star jasmine cuttings

We propagate trachelopermum using semi hardwood cutting. Most books will tell you to take the cuttings during summer. We however take our star jasmine (trachelopermum) cuttings during the winter months.

The best part of the stem is the thin trailing part. Thicker bushier parts can be used, although we find that the success rates on the thin trailing stems is far higher (over 80%) compared with 50% for thicker stems.

Cuttings we find should be kept nice and small. 7cm (3in) is the ideal length for us. We find smaller cuttings = higher success rates.

It can be tempting to take larger cuttings, but it just makes it harder for the stem to sustain itself. Generating roots is our main objective. Once we have roots the plant will grow very quickly.

• 

• 

• 

Striking roots

To strike the roots we use a mixture of perlite and peat moss. We use 90% perlite mixed with 10% peat moss. To read more on the benefits of perlite and peat moss as a propagation medium check out our article “best propagation mix”.

The cuttings are simply plugged directly into the mixture of perlite and peat moss. It helps if you lightly wet the mix before plugging the cuttings in.

It’s important that the cuttings are kept out of wind and direct sunlight, these will dry them out and make your efforts to this point useless. The perlite/ peat moss mix must be kept moist at all times!

Our cuttings taken in winter, take 3-4 months to “strike” (develop roots). Cuttings taken in summer as most books suggest may strike quicker. We honestly don’t know as we always take our trachelopsrmum cuttings in winter.

For us this is simply when we have the most time in the nursery for propagation. During the warmer months we are flat out fulfilling orders.

• 

• 

Potting the cuttings

Now that roots have developed we can plant the new plants into some potting mix.

Look for a good quality mix with plenty of organic material and trace elements. We want to give our new plants the best start possible.

Now that they have roots they can take up nutrients and start growing extra foliage and leaves much faster than in the propagation mix.

We plant our new trachelopermum plants into small 50mm (2in) pots. For the home gardener a 150mm (6in) pot probably makes more sense.

Once you pot the new plants place them back in the sheltered area you had them when they were cuttings. Even though they have roots, they are still quite delicate.

As we did with the propagation mix keep the potting mix moist. Just moist! Don’t over water!

Wait about a month maybe more depending on the season. We like to allow the plants to double in size, and have the roots filling the pots before we move them out into full sun and wind exposure.

Once you make it to this stage the plants are completely ready for the garden.

Hopefully this guide to propagating star jasmine has been helpful. If so you might enjoy our propagation page where we share instructions on all the plants we propagate in our wholesale plant nursery.

And if you’re really excited about plant propagation perhaps you would like to subscribe to our mailing list.

Thanks for reading and happy planting!

• 

• 

•